good evening. thanks for joining us. i'm diane dwyer. >> we're covering breaking news in santa barbara. the three stabbing victims found dead in elliot rodger's home are all from the bay area. the victims are identified as 20-year-old chen yuan hong, george chen and weihan wang from fremont. they were found dead with multiple stab wounds. investigators are looking to see whether wang was a roommate or

just a victim. he killed two more after that and wounded 13 before taking his own life. we are also just learning that the parents of elliot rodger were running to santa barbara from l.a. after they received a call from their son's therapist warning them about a written manifesto threatening to kill people. by the time they arrived in santa barbara, it was too late. meantime, memorials are growing in front of the sorority house where three women were shot and in front of ivy deli. jennifer bjorklund is in santa barbara with the latest tonight. jennifer? >> reporter: you've got that right. the 140-page manifesto was very alarming to the family of the young man that went on the shooting rampage. they received it at 9:17, not enough time to warn people about

the rampage that was already probably well under way. in that manifesto, he talked about killing his roommates, the bay area men, and then using the apartment that they all shared to lure victims in. police, investigators are all looking at this to figure out what events and how they unfolded friday night. security camera video from inside the ivy deli. outside, in the parking lot, customers scrambled for cover. gunfire blasting through the front windows. some escaped injuries and were able to come back and cram flowers through the bullet holes in memory of the ones who didn't, 20-year-old christopher martinez. ♪ amazing grace how sweet the sound ♪ >> reporter: 3,000 people held vigils to remember him and the other victims, including

veronika weiss, a uscb freshman, and katie cooper, who was studying archaelogy. >> you always hear about stuff like this happening but you always think, oh, that doesn't happen to me. that doesn't happen in my town. >> reporter: martinez's dad inconsolable and angry. >> aren't we tired of this? i mean, how can this go on anymore? >> reporter: word that the shooter, 22-year-old elliot rodger, had a visit from law enforcement because of concerned family members weeks before this attack has some questioning, could this rampage have been prevented? the sheriff says the deputy who checked in on rodger found him courteous, shy, and not a danger. >> it was obvious that he had

some very, very, very deep mental problems. he was obviously able to conceal that from people. >> reporter: the 137-page manifesto and video, elliot rodger's retribution he posted on youtube, the first outward signs that he was planning this rampage, both coming as the attacks likely were already under way. and the sheriff here in santa barbara county told me that they expect to do an investigation as thorough as they would if they had a suspect that they had to bring to court. he said that they owe the family that. they need answers. they also want to learn as much as they can about this to prevent something like this from ever happening again. jennifer bjorklund, live in santa barbara, back to you. >> do you have any idea how long he may have been planning this attack? >> reporter: well, in looking at the manifesto, there are several things that may have triggered him. one, a fight a year ago. but then as he was thinking

about this attack, he had a broken leg, he was in a cast and he got a cold and there were other things that got in his way. looking at the man gueifesto, t is evidence that he was planning this as long as five years ago, since he was 17 years old. >> jennifer, thank you very much. one of the victim who is survived the rampage is from the bay area and his name is nick pasichuke. mercury news is reporting that pasichuke was visiting a high school friend in santa barbara when rodger hit him with his car and broke both of his legs. there's been an outpouring of support from the community. senator dianne feinstein released this statement today about the attack. "we must ask ourselves if an individual whose family called police with concerns about mental health should be allowed to own multiple firearms and

hundreds of rounds of ammunition. when anyone, no matter their mental history, can so easily obtain any gun they want and as many as they want, we have to recognize that there is a problem." the gunman's youtube video describes how he wants to kill women for being rejected. that has started on twitter #yesallwomen. because i have been taught in school that if i'm wearing shorts or my shoulders are showing something, i am sending the wrong message. we have continuing coverage of the mass killing in isla vista on air and online at nbcbayarea.com. taking a look at the weather, we have sunny and breezy weather. beach fans took a look at sunny

weather in alameda. they set up tents. some people were playing a version of catch. rob mayeda is joining us to talk about the warming trend which is going to be a cooling trend soon. >> as we go through the work week, we'll see cooling temperatures. the reason it was great to be close to the water, south of downtown, san jose, 87 degrees. still 80s in the peninsula and 60s around san francisco. not quite having an impact in the tri-valley. livermore and walnut creek at 90 and look at the north bay, santa rosa, 95 degrees. 90 in calistoga. the sea breeze is picking up. warm air rises and acts like a vacuum and sucks in the marine

air. that's what we are seeing right now. blustery out there this evening. the camera is bouncing around in san francisco. we have one more day of the temperatures getting closer to 90 degrees inland. and we're also watching a very powerful hurricane in the pacific, far away for now. winds at 150 miles per hour. some of the clouds could be drifting towards california and increasing fire danger for parts of the state. we'll talk about that and the full forecast coming up in a few minutes. back to you. >> thanks a lot. president obama paid a surprise visit to u.s. troops in afghanistan today. air force one slipped out of washington during the night and touched down at bagram, afghanistan, early this morning. he thanked the thousands of troops. >> you are willing to serve, to step forward at a time of war and say, send me is the reason that the united states stays strong and free. >> reporter: the president

wrapped up his trip by visiting wounded personnel. still to come, she's not your average 11-year-old. >> that's right. hear what her coach has to say about her swinging. you're watching an onboard camera capturing a train running a red light and crashing into a car here in the bay area. we investigate why transit workers are cited for multiple violations and failed drug tests end up back on the job.

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get to the stadium for thousands of 49er fans. how safe is it? >> insiders at the transit agency are questioning its safety, asking why drivers and train operators who were fired for serious safety violations have ended up back on the job. vicky nguyen has more. >> when we first started looking at the numbers, we were astonished at how many people get rehired, sometimes with more than $100,000 in back pay. and wait until you hear what they were fired for in the first place. you're watching video from the onboard camera of a vta train last may. the train operator runs a red light and slams into this red prius turning left on a green arrow at first and metro at san jose. the driver of the prius was

seriously hurt. and according to the accident report, had to be pulled from the roof of the car. >> some of the things that have happened are severe and they are security issues. >> they are concerned that they will be retaliated against for what they call inconsistent discipline of staff that puts safety at risk. they point to this operator, vta records show that he was fired after the crash. then rehired a month later into another job. prompted by their concerns, we asked vta for data showing how many of their bus drivers, train operators, dispatchers, and field supervisors were fired and then rehired over the last ten years? we found 22%, or roughly one of every five people were rehired and one ended in the exact same job. one person was hired and fired

twice. vta hired 27 of the 124 people fired. the agency says it's not at fault because the union contract requires vta to rehire anyone who wins the case in arbitration. so we asked why they were fired to begin with. records show substant abuse violations were at the top of the list. we obtained this audit issued in september. it showed the federal transit administration urged vta to reconsider its drug policy. investigators said while many transit agencies offer second chance programs, vta unusually offers what may be termed as a fifth chance program. the audit says that the policy present as safety risk for both the public and vta employees if they are allowed to fail or retake a drug test multiple times. for most of us, getting fired

means saying good-bye for good. but at vta, we found employees that were fired for assault of a passenger and multiple accidents and theft and they all got their jobs back. >> what message does that send to the public? >> well, if we have a public that has no tolerance and says that any time someone has an accident they should lose their job, it's very hard or very difficult to explain to the public. >> bob is in charge of administrative services at vta. >> should the public have tolerance for someone who is using substances or if they assaulted a passenger, should there be that same level of tolerance? >> on a hypothetical basis that is difficult -- >> this is not hypothetical. this happened. >> i understand. but it's hard to say what the tolerance should be. >> union rules can require the

case to go before an arbitrator. if it's determined that they should not have hired the vta employee -- >> we have to make sure that when we put a case together, we offer it and submit it for termination that when it goes to an innocent arbitrator, we've done the best we can. >> reporter: so how does the rehire rate compare with other agencies? we asked around. they said they didn't hire anyone it fired, b.a.r.t. said it rehired two employees but for a different job. vta has a rehire rate of 21%. records show vta awarded $635,000 in backpay, including 131,000 to someone fired for substance abuse and 116,000 to someone fired for attendance. vta, again, points to the powerful contract but insiders say it's supervisors who fail to

build strong cases that stick. >> they will tell you that they did the management but management screwed up on the paperwork and they got their jobs back. >> sources say that vta doesn't do a good job of firing these people in the first place. >> that may be the case in certain circumstances. >> there are real consequences on the riders who trust vta and those that share the roads with the buses and trains. >> it tells the public that i can get fired and then either in a month or two i can get rehired and, by the way, i can get backpay for it. that's a safety issue that people need to know. >> we asked transit comnies outside of the bay area for their rehire rate. san francisco had none. l.a. metro hired 9%. as for the drug policy, vta says it is currently in talks with

the union. we will let you know if there are any changes. vicky nguyen, nbc bay area news. >> and if you have a tip for our investigative unit, call 888-996-tips. or send an e-mail to theunit@nbcbayarea.com.

got to love it, they are dancing in the streets today. san francisco's mission district is bursting with some energy. this year's carnival celebrated the world cup and it looks like everybody is having a good time. according to parade organizers, 400,000 people showed up for the weekend celebration. this marks the 36th year of the parade and festival. >> man, good dances out there. meteorologist rob mayeda.

>> we've been looking at san francisco and there are low 70s. san francisco is in the low 80s outside and across the bay area, still some 90s out there up towards santa rosa. it's 95 degrees and 81 in livermore. the late day sea breeze is picking up. inland spots, like san jose dar hotter than yesterday at this same time. and you can see the sea breeze firing up. 60s and 70s around the bay and into san francisco with 80s and 90s. winds stay gusty probably through 8:00 or 9:00 tonight and then we see the wind speeds start to back off. we'll look for a few patches and during the day on monday we should see more clouds try to

approach the coast late in the day. but for most of the afternoon, we're looking at mostly sunny skies for our forecast on monday. here's an impressive view at hurricane amanda. typically you don't see this until june or july. look at that. winds of 150 miles per hour. category 4. it's weakening over the next few days. the storm track is keeping most of the intense weather offshore. what is interesting is the mid-level moisture and high-level clouds may try to spread farther to the south, at least for tuesday and wednesday. approaching baja, california, and then as you are about to see, southern california could get some of that coming in which could trigger lightning fires to ourselves. tomorrow we'll see another warm day. 80s and 90 degrees inland and then the sea breeze is stronger. watching out for what is left of the moisture of the tropical system. hurricane amanda is drifting

through california. have to watch out for fire danger there. next big cool down as the trough approaches the west coast and you can see the seven-day forecast heading into next week. temperatures are still a little hot. in the north bay, mid-to upper 08s. a little bit of cooling there. winds pick up in the south and then the tri-valley, 80s to 90s and then cooling in the low to mid-80s starting on tuesday. back to you. >> all right. thank you, rob. coming up, she's 11 years old and swinging into history. >> she's the youngest person ever to qualify for the u.s. women's open. we'll hear from bay experts who saw her talent years and years ago.

she's only 11 years old and

she's going to compete against the best women golfers in the world next month. lucy lee became the youngest person ever to qualify for the u.s. women's open. cheryl hurd shows us where she got her start. >> reporter: those who watch lucy lee bring home a championship back in april, probably didn't know that she was about to make history. but during an interview, you could tell that the 11-year-old might have known that she was on to something special. >> just the chance to be here is amazing and i want to really thank the pga and the masters to allow us to play here. >> reporter: she not only had the victory at augusta under her belt, at age 11, she's the youngest qualifier to play in the u.s. women's open. her coach is proud because he knows that she can play. >> she's learned all of the

shots in golf, how to play all of the little shots around the green. short bunker shots and then long bunker shots. you can see in this video that she was only 7. an instructor at the foster city golf course where she got her start saw her from the very beginning. >> at the end of the day, when they would leave she would throw tantrums crying and i'd ask her mom what was the problem and she would say, oh, she's mad because she has to leave. >> li is a household name at the mariner's golf course. she has a lot of people cheering her on. >> if your head is not in this game, you're not going to have any chance to win. just like most sports but especially golf because it's so quiet and no one is there to help you out and they are just watching you. >> cheryl hurd, nbc bay area news. >> lucy and the top female golfer in the united states and around the world. we'll tee it up for the u.s.

women's open starting on june 19th. >> and we wish her luck. >> absolutely. coming up in our next half hour, we have new video in the north bay that had him rushing to save a chp officer. what the officer was doing just before that accident. and an update on a major dui crackdown for the memorial day weekend. plus -- >> live in energy, we are learning that three of the victims in the santa barbara shooting have ties to the bay area. the very latest coming up.

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new details on the deadly rampage near santa barbara. three victims found in the shooter's apartment are identified. good evening, everyone. i'm terry mcsweeney. >> and